


Fury on the Waves

by MYuzuki



Category: Mega Man X7, Megaman X7 - Fandom, Rockman X | Mega Man X, Rockman X7
Genre: Axl and Warfly clearly have some bad history between them okay, Battleship stage, Canon-Typical Violence, Developing Friendships, Gen, Hidden Depths, Introspection, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, so I took their canon dialogue to each other and ran with it, this might count as a character study or it might not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:08:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23430703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MYuzuki/pseuds/MYuzuki
Summary: Zero and Axl are so intent on surveying the wreckage of the battleship, looking for survivors, that they don't immediately notice a dark shape moving in the water, approaching them from behind.
Relationships: Axl & Splash Warfly, Axl & Zero (Rockman)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25





	Fury on the Waves

**Author's Note:**

> So, I'm doing Camp NaNoWriMo for the first time ever, and this little ficlet is counting towards my goal of 15000 words of work on "Assorted Works" (because I can't work on just one story to save my life, lol). 
> 
> Anyway, this ficlet is one I've wanted to do for a while, ever since I wrote A Heart of Steel Will Never Bleed, so I'm excited to have enough motivation to actually get it done. And who knows, this may kick off a trend where I write a ficlet for every boss confrontation in MMX7! (Don't laugh! There's so much to work with, especially in regards to Axl and how he's handling things. And I'm a sucker for hidden depths in a character, haha.)
> 
> As always, feedback is very much appreciated if you feel like leaving it. Enjoy the story!
> 
> (Also, if anyone wants to know, the story title comes from the Nathaniel Hawthorne poem, "The Ocean".

**Fury on the Waves**

Zero and Axl are so intent on surveying the wreckage of the battleship, looking for survivors, that they don't immediately notice a dark shape moving in the water, approaching them from behind.

Axl only barely manages to jerk out of the way and dodge as Splash Warfly erupts out of the water and thrusts a wickedly sharp naginata at his back.

"I've been waiting for you, traitor!" the Red Alert Maverick says, only retreating to a nearby chunk of floating wreckage when Axl pivots around and fires off several shots in quick succession to drive him back.

"Ah, you coward!" Axl snaps, genuine anger in his voice as he glares at his former comrade. "I should've known you'd sneak up from behind like that. What's the matter, too afraid to face me head on?"

Warfly makes a sound of supreme aggravation. "As if!" He jabs his weapon in Axl's direction. "I could never be afraid of a traitorous piece of garbage like you! It's like I always told Red, you're nothing but an ungrateful brat. Turning on us, after everything we've done for you!"

Axl's mouth turns down into a fierce scowl as he levels his pistol at Warfly. "Oh, please, like _you_ actually care. Since when have you _ever_ done anything but give me a hard time?" he growls.

There is, Zero realizes belatedly, clearly some sort history between them and not the good kind. Axl seems to genuinely dislike Splash Warfly, and after seeing the kid's lingering fondness for Wind Crowrang and honest regret in having to fight him, it's jarring to see actual antipathy all but radiating off of the younger Reploid.

He's grown used to Axl's easy smiles, almost always present even if they're just as often faked. He's not entirely sure what to do with an Axl who's not hiding behind a facade of devil-may-care grins and light-hearted quips.

"Prepare to feel pain," Warfly hisses. " You're going to pay for betraying us, and I'm going to _enjoy_ tearing you to pieces. I've hated you from the very beginning!"

"The feeling is entirely mutual," Axl retorts, eyes dark, "so that makes two of us!"

"Why, you brat-"

Axl doesn't wait for Splash Warfly to finish whatever he'd been about to say, just fires off a volley of shots that send the lanky Reploid diving off the floating wreckage into the water. "Be careful," he says now to Zero, serious and sharp-edged in a way that honestly makes Zero's proverbial hackles rise out of instinctive wariness because it just seems so out of character for the kid he's been working with. "He likes to attack from different angles at high speeds, to take his opponent by surprise."

Even as he digests that information and assesses it from a tactical standpoint in the back of his mind, Zero also can't help but wonder which side of Axl is really real.

Is his real personality closer to this angry version with the bitter eyes, or is the one who cracks terrible jokes and flashes wide grins closer to his true self? Or are they both real, separate sides to the same coin? He just doesn't know, doesn't understand Axl well enough to say one way or the other.

Whatever the case may be, there's no denying the clear animosity between Axl and Splash Warfly, so in all likelihood this fight will be messy. Things almost always are, when emotions get involved.

Zero opens his mouth, reconsiders what he'd been about to say, and finally settles on, "Anything else I should know about?"

Axl seems to consider that for a moment, his gaze roving across the surrounding waves as he scans for where Warfly might appear. "He doesn't have a lot in terms of weaponry," he says at last, his tone professional to the point of being almost brusque. "His naginata is his main weapon, plus a specialized laser that he'll use for long-range attacks. He usually carries a few small missiles, too," he tacks on almost like an afterthought, "but I've never found them to be very powerful so I wouldn't worry about it that much."

"Alright," Zero says, "good to know." And then, because he can't _not_ ask, not when Axl is acting so strange, "And what about you? You're good to see this fight through? You're okay?"

Axl gives a sharp smile that borders on vicious; it reminds Zero that for all his apparent youth, Axl is a mercenary with a whole history that Zero knows next to nothing about. "Never better," the kid says, and Zero decides to stop pushing because clearly the matter isn't open for discussion at the moment.

In the end, the fight is messy, but just like with their fight against Crowrang Zero and Axl have the advantage of numbers; they wind up back to back more than once, cutting down on the risk of getting ambushed from behind by Warfly, who leaps from the water at their blind spots with more agility than Zero would have anticipated without Axl's warning.

Zero's not entirely sure who strikes the final blow, but Splash Warfly is eventually defeated, his battered carcass powering down and tumbling backwards off the platform to fall into the waves, sinking out of sight as Zero and Axl watch.

"Who's worthless now," Axl mutters, holstering his pistol with a jerky movement that belies his emotional state.

"I take it you two weren't exactly friendly," Zero ventures, tone dry but also gently probing. It might do Axl some good to get whatever's bothering him off his chest, he reasons. Like lancing poison from an infected wound.

Axl snorts, mouth quirking up in what's more of a smirk than a smile. "Definitely not," he replies. "Warfly always thought that I was worthless, and had no issue with sharing that opinion. Often, and loudly." He shakes his head. "He always complained about Red taking me in. Said I didn't deserve it. For all I know, he could be right," he adds, tipping one shoulder in a seemingly careless shrug as he rubs at the scar on his face. "I don't have any memories from before then, so it's possible I _didn't_ deserve it." His expression turns faintly melancholy. "I guess it doesn't really matter now anyway."

Zero has never been terribly good with words, not the way that X is. He tends more towards gruffness than anything, and offering comfort to someone isn't precisely within his skill-set. Still, given how uncharacteristically grim and lost Axl seems right now, he's willing to try.

The kid deserves at least that much, with what he's going through.

"If it matters to you," Zero says now, "then it matters. Period." He hesitates, then reaches out to clap Axl lightly on the shoulder. "And you're not worthless," he adds, because for despite Axl's blatant overconfidence in his own abilities on the battlefield, there are clearly some self-worth issues flaring up at the moment.

(Zero would never admit it out loud to anyone other than X, but he's more than passingly familiar with feeling like damaged goods, so he figures if anyone is in a position to understand that particular mindset, it's him.)

"Clearly Red saw something in you that made him want you around," Zero goes on. "And as valuable as your abilities are from a tactical standpoint, I don't think that's all it was." He steps away and activates their homing beacon so Alia can get to work on transporting them back to base. "Anyway, good work today. We saved a lot lives," sixteen civilians who'd somehow gotten trapped on the battleship, plus anyone else who would have fallen victim to Warfly's armada in the future, "so mission accomplished."

Some of Axl's dark mood fades away, replaced by a vaguely pleased and hopeful expression. "Saving lives, huh." He gives a tired smile. "Guess that makes all this trouble worth it."

The words remind Zero that Axl's main motivation in defecting from Red Alert and choosing instead to work with the Maverick Hunters is that he wants to do the right thing. It reminds him that despite Axl's checkered past as one of Red Alert's top operatives and general eagerness for battle, this is someone who wants to save lives, not end them.

It reminds him that maybe he and Axl have more in common than he's been willing to admit.

"It's worth it," Zero agrees.


End file.
